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Ryerson University’s dean of science Dr. Imogen R. Coe.

There was a time when scientific research was widely seen as something that happened only in laboratories where white-coated professors spoke a language few others understood. But that's changing thanks to a new generation of scientists who recognize the need to integrate their work with a broader community.

For example, Ryerson University's Faculty of Science in Toronto recently expanded to the city's MaRS Discovery District to give chemistry and biology researchers room to work in a more collaborative environment.

Dean of science Imogen R. Coe says the faculty's current facility was built about 60 years ago when science was done in very different ways to today.

"Working in teams is much more common now, so we are moving from a very old style of building to the new way of doing science, which is much more collaborative," she says.

Facilities in the new lab space are state-of-the-art and will support a variety of types of biomedical science.

Dr. Coe says the new location is designed to support 21st century science and will foster further collaboration between Ryerson researchers, other organizations housed in MaRS, and beyond.

"The next generation of researchers will be knowledgeable about communication, entrepreneurship, social innovation, business and policy. They will be very well positioned to find the solutions to the complex problems we face, as a nation and as a planet," she adds. Ryerson researchers in MaRS are working on a range of projects incuding: several cancer-related studies; tissue engineering to modify human cells for potential treatment of Parkinson's disease or spinal cord injury, cell signalling and how cells respond to stress; and gaining a better understanding of infectious diseases such as malaria.

"Bringing diverse groups of people together and supporting them in being creative and innovative is a key to finding answers and solutions to complex problems," says Dr. Coe.

She sees the expansion to MaRS as a logical step in the evolution of Ryerson science programming and its contribution to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education over many years.

"Ryerson has had science programming of some sort since the institution was established," she says. "This programming first supported the engineering faculty and subsequently grew and flourished to reach a critical mass of professors, staff and students to allow the formation of a stand-alone science faculty, born in 2012 out of the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science.

"We have a strong commitment to being a community of scientists that care about one another while at the same time being aware that we are part of a global community because science knows no borders," says Dr. Coe. "We want to share science with our community in Toronto and be a gateway to science for our neighbours and an accessible and vibrant hub for science in the city."

Part of that sharing is to ensure students with an interest in science achieve their full potential by being exposed to real-world problems and interacting with a diverse range of stakeholders so that they understand how their skills can be developed and applied to answer complex questions, she adds.

"Importantly, we encourage students to challenge the status quo, come up with bright ideas and then test them in our zones. Through our zones, we embrace interdisciplinary approaches and also learn from failure – one of the most powerful learning tools," says Dr. Coe. "Students will acquire strong technical skills while also honing all the important transferable skills that so many employers are looking for now and those who are looking for the researchers of the future."


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